JOHN PATTERSON SAMPSON.
James D. Sampson, of North Carolina, the father of the subject of this notice, by his wealth and enterprise as a house carpenter, gave the Sampson family distinction in that State many years ago. They were free people, of Scottish and African lineage, who valued education highly, and boasted somewhat of their revolutionary ancestry. He educated his children at Northern schools, and (by special legislation) before the war, was allowed certain privileges for his family. It was a question, however, with the authorities, after he had erected several fine buildings, whether he should be allowed to live in the one intended for his family, although the street in the neighborhood of his property took his name.
John, Benjamin, and Joseph were inclined to literary professions. Benjamin, probably the best scholar, graduated at Oberlin College; was professor of the classics at the Avery Institute, in Pennsylvania, and is now filling a similar position with credit, at Wilberforce, Ohio. John P. Sampson, the most active in public life, was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1838. At an early age, he was sent to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he acquired a common-school education; then among the first colored youth entering the white schools of Boston, he graduated from Comer’s College through a course in book-keeping, navigation, and civil engineering, but began life as a teacher in the public schools of New York, until inspired by a speech from William Watkins, when he gave up the school, and engaged to canvass New York under Horace Greeley and James M’Cune Smith, in behalf of Negro Suffrage, continuing for several years in the lecturing field through the West.
He published the “Colored Citizen” several years at Cincinnati, the only colored war-policy paper published during the war, and was aided by the Christian Commission, which circulated thousands among the colored soldiers. The paper was generally quoted as the soldiers’ organ. At the same time, he edited through the mail a paper published by a company of colored men in Louisville, Kentucky. He studied theology at the Western Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and was ordained elder over a prosperous congregation in Alleghany, Pennsylvania; was principal of the Phonetic Academy, at Bowling Green, Kentucky, assisted by Professor Murray and other able teachers. He accepted an engagement in the work of reconstruction; was commissioned by General Howard to look after schools in the Third District of North Carolina; elected treasurer and assessor of Wilmington; nominated for the Legislature, and soon became a prominent candidate for Congress; and might have succeeded, were it not for some perversion of his father’s connection with the purchase of slaves before the war, in order to assist them in obtaining their freedom.
Becoming interested in the profession of the law, he gave up his prospects in the South, stood a clerical examination at Washington, was appointed to a clerkship in the Treasury, read law at the National Law University, graduated, and was admitted to practice in the District Supreme Court. He soon became prominent in district politics, published a spirited campaign paper, was engaged by the general committee to speak in the Republican canvass of 1872, and has since been commissioned by Governor Cook as one of the justices for the district, in connection with his present position at the Treasury.
Mr. Sampson is an able writer, an eloquent and interesting speaker, polished and gentlemanly in his manners, and highly respected. In person, he is tall and slim, with a genteel figure, well-balanced head, bright eye, and a countenance beaming with intelligence.